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Someone e-mailed me yesterday asking for assi...
July 31, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Someone e-mailed me yesterday asking for assistance in creating a "plane of air" style tileset, similar to the multi-leveled platforms from Dreamcatcher 4. I directed him to some custom content guides (as I have little time these days), but kept thinking about it afterwards. Well, I decided to play with it a bit more and ended up with a fairly small tileset with floating rocks.
I'm having problems with my 2x2 group, but the smaller one works. I also have a few variations of the "void" areas, mostly rocks flying around in space. So far, it's pretty neat, though I'll need some more variations to make it workable.
I also had someone approach me offering their help in creating an intro movie. If it pans out, it should be fairly nice looking.
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It's hard to find the time these days, but I ...
July 30, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 It's hard to find the time these days, but I managed to get a portal into my Mechanus tile set. I also created a "lightning generator" placeable, but there's some minor issues to work out. I did some more scripting yesterday, though mostly minor things. I have my new and improved "pop-up descriptive text" working. You can set whether or not you want it to show up above your head (which unhides you but is more visible), or show up in the message box.
I'm also in the process of getting the Dreamcatcher series upgraded for SoU. It's a painful process and there's a lot of people helping me out. Fortunately, I think I have the last of the major bugs taken care of. You still won't be able to import grenade-like weapons and there won't be any henchmen inventory management, but at least the game crashing and visual bugs should be fixed.
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The rest of my life has been really busy, but...
July 29, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 The rest of my life has been really busy, but I did manage to find some time to whip up a couple puzzle pieces. These two animated arrows will be used to direct the modrone around. Nothing is scripted, of course, but I'm slowly getting there.
I worked more on the card game yesterday, fixing some bugs and finding some more. It's going to need lots of polishing, I suspect, as it's extremely complicated. Balance is another issue that'll need to be figured out. Much testing will be required.
A big thanks to the brave souls who volunteered to test the new version of Dreamcatcher. Hopefully it will go smoothly and I'll be able to upload it in the next few days.
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Nothing too major to report
July 28, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Nothing too major to report. Seerow released a monodrone a few days ago, which is exactly what I needed for the Mechanus puzzle levels. I just need to get started on scripting those areas now that I've got all the pieces together. Well, almost together. I still need a bunch of placeables.
I did a little research into Javascript games yesterday, with an eye to converting some to NWN. While my search was fruitless, I'm tempted to work on a Mahjong-like game for a small diversion. Could be entertaining. Of course, I still have to fix all the bugs I've found with Creatures.
Oh, one more thing. I finished up the changes to the Dreamcatcher modules and hak packs, bringing them up to compliance with 1.30 (mostly). If anyone wants to beta test them before releasing it on an unsuspecting public, feel free to e-mail me.
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I completely reworked what I'd started yester...
July 27, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I completely reworked what I'd started yesterday, going for a different style. It's to the point where I'm pretty happy for what I tried to do. All the little details seem pretty good as well - pathfinding works and I put together some simple mini-map icons. It's basically just platforms with "industrial" extras - pipes, exhaust vents, and some gears. Don't think too hard on the fact that the gears aren't connected to anything. Animating gears is extremely complicated.
If I have time today, I'd like to test and fix some card game problems that I'm aware of. I redid the Fireball code, breaking it in the process. The "leader" cards (such as the Lich, Goblin Warlord, and Druid) don't seem to be giving bonuses to their matched cards (e.g. Goblin Warlords boost all goblins, and so on).
Every new module, I try something new, pushing the boundries of what the game and my abilities can do. I have a funny feeling that it'll keep me quite busy this time around. Lots and lots of custom content.
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I'll keep this one short as Sam's wanting to play
July 26, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I'll keep this one short as Sam's wanting to play. I added a ton of cards yesterday, bringing the total of unique cards to 40. Some are broken and require further testing. I also found what I think is a bug with the fireball and lighning bolt script.
I started in on my next tiny project, a Mechanus-like tileset, though very very small. I think it'll be four tiles total to be used in a puzzle-like area. Still very broken at this point, but at I got enough done to take this screenshot.
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While I didn't have a lot of time yesterday t...
July 25, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 While I didn't have a lot of time yesterday to keep coding, I managed to finally get two key pieces in place. Players now draw cards from their actual deck, rather than a random draw. Also, when one avatar is defeated, the game is over. At this point, you can challenge my default "card boy" to a game, arrange your deck if needed, and teleport to the game board. When it's over, you return back where you started.
There's lots to do yet. I want to put in some limits as to how few cards a player can have, otherwise the chances of drawing their "power cards" increases. I'm also going to have a limit for the number of individual cards. It would be quite an unfair game if their deck was stuffed with fireballs or some such. I think I'm going for a limit of 40 cards minimum and 4 of any type of card max (other than magic generators).
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Mostly bug fixing yesterday and this morning
July 24, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Mostly bug fixing yesterday and this morning. I've been having weirdness with the Sabotage spell, which blows up one of your opponent's magic generators. I had a brief laugh out loud moment as one of my "fixes" ended up blowing up each and every one. Soon my opponent and I were holding a full hand of cards without the ability to play any.
I also fixed an annoying visualeffects.2da issue that crept into the module. Beam effects simply stopped working.
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Well, I think I have my deck management code ...
July 23, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Well, I think I have my deck management code basically working. I've been adding in all the "extras" for the card game, such as being able to initiate a card game with another player, as well as arrange the cards in your deck. At this point, the cards in your deck don't matter (it's still pulling them randomly), but my hope is that I'll be able to fix that soon.
Creating the area where the cards are all layed out and can be moved in and out of your deck was a big enough hassle. There was lots of convoluted logic there, but it seems to be finally working. Managing your own deck is key to the enjoyment of the game. Otherwise it's simply a modified form of solitare.
I'm also planning for different theme decks that the different opponents will use. I'll need to create more cards in order to support them all, but I think it's doable.
As for getting new cards, I'm thinking of having an ante, where one of each player's cards is set aside until the end, with the winner taking both of them. You'll probably be able to buy "booster packs" or individual cards, at extremely inflated prices of course.
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I can tell already that balance is going to b...
July 22, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I can tell already that balance is going to be a tricky thing. I started implementing some relatively powerful cards, such as Lightning Bolt, which fires bolts of lightning at your enemy's creatures. It's variable, so that the more magic you have, the more creatures you can hit and the more damage it does. Well, it can quite easily clear the room if you've come close to maxing out your magic reserves. I've tweaked it a bit, but may have to do even more to keep it from being a "broken" card.
I have more cards to implement, of course. I got a bunch done yesterday, including ones such as Sabotage, which blows up an opponent's magic generator. I've also added some more creatures, which I'll do more of today.
I have the first parts of my deck management code sketched out on paper. The goal is to be able to add and remove cards from your deck in order to compete against different players with opposing decks. Hopefully I can get started on that soon.
One of these days, I'll need to put the card playing game behind me and start focusing on the module again. This wacky card game is simply too much fun. I play a little bit before I go to bed, just to see how it'll all turn out.
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I added yet more cards to my little mini-game...
July 21, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I added yet more cards to my little mini-game, bringing the total up to around 20 or so. The latest ones involve those that use a variable amount of magic. If someone casts it with only a small amount of magic available, the effect is small. If you have the maximum number of generators, all unused, it is devastating.
Also, I've noticed that there are lots of great portraits in the toolset that I've rarely seen. I suppose it's because I don't typically see the portrait for creatures unless I'm examining them or having a conversation, which is rare.
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At my birthday yesterday, I ate too much exce...
July 20, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 At my birthday yesterday, I ate too much excellent food, as well as a small cup of cold coffee. Unfortunately it kept me up until 11:30, way past my usual 9:30 bedtime.
I spent the time playing my card game over and over, incorporating three new spell cards: Assassin, Healing Light, and Life Drain. They all work, though I'd like to put in some logic for the AI so that it'll play it when "best". They make the game lots of fun as they add variety to what was previously just a creature-only concept. I'm up to a total of 14 cards now, which seems small, but actually lends itself to some complex battles. I'd like to double that number at least.
I spent a bunch of time playtesting yesterday, redoing some of the cards' attributes and redoing nearly every creature. I think I'm starting to suspect that the game is really, really fun. It was hard to stop playing, though perhaps it was the coffee.
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I really like it when a crazy idea comes toge...
July 19, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I really like it when a crazy idea comes together and actually turns into something fun. I fixed a bunch of bugs with the card game. Cards are dealt appropriately and the AI now makes relatively smart decisions about what card to play. While it's not perfect, it's good enough to put the smack down on me at times when I play against it. I whipped up a small tileset to get the look I wanted. I also created some new creature cards, bringing the total to six or so. I want to have a couple dozen before I call it finished in order to get the variety I want.
I may need to slow down the speed at which magic becomes available. Little goblins don't do much damage, so it's almost worth it to just wait a bit. I have lots of balance issues like this one to figure out.
I also have some ideas for deck management - basically a big area where you can see your cards and add or remove them from your deck. Either that, or some dialog options where you can specify the number of each card you want in your deck (up to the max of how many you have). Deck management is half the fun, in my opinion.
Not being a slouch, I also worked on the main storyline, coming up with a good idea to move things along and keep it emotionally charged. This campaign focuses heavily on the relationship between you and your companion, which allows for greater depth of interactions. I wrote an incredibly long dialog for the beginning piece.
On a final note, today's my birthday. 34 seems like a fine age these days.
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Amazingly, the game works
July 18, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Amazingly, the game works. Sure, there are tons of problems such as cards being dealt on top of each other, the AI is a bit slow, and the character can interact with the game pieces. But still, the game actually works. I've played through several times and had either my opponent or myself win.
I'd like to get more cards into the game, and perhaps have some real deck management code in there, rather than the random draws I now have. I'd also like to create a small tileset for the game board, if only to prevent the player from interacting with the game pieces. It's hard to say whether or not it's fun to play, as there are currently lots of bugs, but I think it has the potential for being pretty fun.
I also whipped up some new information on the next campaign, now on the navigation bar to the left. It's mostly polished up notes from my design document, but for those of you who hunger for information, it might be welcome. Spoilers galore, at least in providing lots of background as to who you are and where you'll be.
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I worked more on the card game yesterday, cre...
July 17, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I worked more on the card game yesterday, creating a bunch of creature and other cards. More importantly, I think I have the gameplay concept down on paper. I'm trying hard to keep it simple, so that it doesn't take too much coding time, but fun as well. The general concept is that you play cards which summon creatures that battle it out with your opponent and his creatures.
It's simultaneous play, so there are no real turns. You're limited in that you must play "magic generators" that give you the ability to cast spells. These are put into play as the cards come up, and you can only play one card per cycle. After you cast a card, magic slowly comes back, so hopefully it's less of a twitch game and more of a strategy game.
It's still pretty early in my mini-game development. The game board is set up correctly at the beginning of the game and the first set of cards are dealt. I still need to allow for casting, create the enemy AI, put in the magic generator heartbeat code, and so on. Hopefully it's all worth it.
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I had a wacky idea for a card game that could...
July 16, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I had a wacky idea for a card game that could be added to the module. Tentatively called "Creatures", it's vaguely like the other collectable card games out there. I'm still playing around with it, but I whipped up a single model to act as a starting point. We'll see how it turns out.
I spent time fixing bugs this morning. The heartbeat script and accumulation of spirit coins wasn't working quite right. The new dialog and code to reposition items in your keep worked just fine, however. For the Sim-lovers out there, they can decorate their keep to their heart's content if they'd like. Everyone else can just pile junk in the corner.
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One of these days, I'll start working on thin...
July 15, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
One of these days, I'll start working on things I can take screenshots of. I think I'm basically done with the arena at this point. I spent most of yesterday getting the shadow issues ironed out. Now I need to decide if it's too early to get the tiles into the game, or wait for the official version of the tileset to be released.
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Well, Jamie swept me away for a romantic geta...
July 14, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
Well, Jamie swept me away for a romantic getaway for our anniversary, so I was off and about for most of the day yesterday. I did wake up pretty early this morning and wandered off to a Starbucks to drink coffe and write dialog, however. Writing sometimes seems one of the more challenging of endevors, as it seems to take forever to come up with the right phrase to convey the feeling I'm going for. It was nice to get the intro sequence mostly down, though there's some complex fades and movement that will need to be scripted. Slowly getting there.
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Yesterday was mostly spent finishing up the a...
July 13, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
Yesterday was mostly spent finishing up the arena group. Yet again I was reminded how hard large modeling projects are. Most of my time was spent recreating the walkmeshes, but I also cleaned up some texture issues along the way. Now I've got to fix shadows, which I may ask for some tips on from the boards.
I made my first potion in the game. Though I've got a bit more scripting and debugging to go, I feel I'm making progress. I have a couple more rooms in the keep to script, though it shouldn't be too hard. The garden needs some growing scripts tied to the heartbeat event. I'm still toying with ideas for the bedroom (though not what you're probably thinking).
I've had a few e-mails about Dreamcatcher and SoU compatibility. I do have a patch of sorts coming out, though it doesn't fix all issues. Using a character with any grenade-like weapons will still crash the game. The new spell effects should be visible, however. At this point, I'm mostly waiting for CODI to release a new version of a creature I'm using. Hopefully it won't be more than a week or so from now.
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A zen-like trance came over me yesterday and ...
July 12, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
A zen-like trance came over me yesterday and I did a bunch of work on the core game systems. I redid the "feng shui" part - different items can now boost the "energy" of your keep in variable amounts. I've got to come up with better terminology for this part, otherwise I'll be laughed off the Vault. For a description of what I'm trying to pull off, read Lord Demon by Zelazny.
I also changed every potion to make them have different strengths, from Minor to Ultimate. I also put in the majority of the alchemy scripts, though I have a little bit more to go.
I've been working hard on the walkmeshes for the arena group this morning. It's a huge project, as I'm individually touching the nine tiles involved. Still, I'm making progress, having got six of the nine tiles looking the way I want. There's some shadow issues I want to clean up too, but so far so good.
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I typed up the remaining traps, getting them ...
July 11, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I typed up the remaining traps, getting them almost all into the game. I still have to create some more ingredients and components, as a few are missing. Hopefully I can get that done today and move on to the laboratory and potion creation. I'm thinking of creating different potion strengths as well, though there's a few potions that don't lend themselves well to that approach.
I'm also working hard on the arena. Yesterday I added some doors into the arena as well as some decorative touches. At this point, the basic geometry is complete and I need to put the walkmesh in place. Unfortunately, that's being pretty tricky and slow going. I've sliced up the tiles and now I've got to fix all the detail issues. Slowly getting there.
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I worked on the workshop scripts yesterday an...
July 10, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I worked on the workshop scripts yesterday and created icons for the various ingredients in the game. Some are used to construct traps, while others are used in making potions. I still need to fix the alpha blending on a couple of them, but I'm generally happy with how they turned out.
I made my first trap in the game, which was a neat little experience. It took me awhile to get all the "decrement stack" scripts working right. It now takes away the appropriate amount of spirit coin as well as any ingredients. Now I've just got to implement the other seven traps (31 if you count the different levels). It's just typing, though, so it shouldn't be too bad.
I also hooked the very first bits of a skill system into the trap making piece. There's an "artifice" skill with is separate from the official "Construct Trap" skill. It basically lets you do things with the workshop and increases as you use it. I have other skills planned, though this is the first.
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Yesterday was our eight-year anniversary, so ...
July 09, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
Yesterday was our eight-year anniversary, so I didn't work on the game much. This morning I wrestled more with 3ds max, trying to get my 9-tile group working. I managed to get it in the game, and it was pretty cool to walk around on something I spent a lot of time with. There's still lots to do yet, such as getting the walkmeshes working and the texture issues sorted it. Unfortunately, the textures don't look quite right to my eye.
I'm hoping it's all worth it. The arena is one of those optional things to do in the main city, though it's considered a "crude" activity by most.
With luck, I'll have some time to work on the laboratory and workshop scripts today. We'll see how it goes.
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I got the spirit gem heartbeat scripts in pla...
July 08, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I got the spirit gem heartbeat scripts in place yesterday. One of the resources in the game are "spirit coins", which can be used to create items or cast spells. Your keep generates spirit coins over time, but the amount of coins it generates is dependant on placing items of beauty within your keep (sort of a Feng Shui thing). There are complexities, such as room upkeep and the like, but hopefully you get the picture. Anyway, it's working at a very basic level now. Still lots of details to work out.
I'm making progress on the arena. This morning I got to play with the tile slicer do it's magic. It makes these big tiles much easier to work with. There's nothing in the game yet, though it's looking good so far.
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I worked on cutscenes yesterday, really lovin...
July 07, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I worked on cutscenes yesterday, really loving the new scripts to support them. The first couple minutes of the module are quite complex, scripting-wise, so I'm trying to get that in order.
I also started on some new tiles, though I'm not able to show them to you. A couple are portals and I'm working on a huge arena as well (3x3 tiles). I suspect I'll go mad working on the latter, but perhaps it'll turn out okay.
As to why I can't show them, it's due to a request of an unnamed group whose textures I'm using. Oh, and if you mention it to anyone, I'll deny everything and eat this webserver.
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I spend at least an hour yesterday making thi...
July 06, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I spend at least an hour yesterday making this one "prop" for a particular scene. Getting the animation for the manacles took forever. I finally got it good enough to call it done.
I also cleaned up and packaged the mountain tileset with castle walls and posted it to the Vault. Hopefully that'll come in handy for a fair amount of people.
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Still cranking out tiles
July 05, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Still cranking out tiles. This is a nice little experiment with transparency. It turns out emitters don't show up beyond a transparent object, so my idea of having bubbles floating around inside wasn't going to pan out. I could create actual models for the bubbles, but that gets the polycounts quite high. I settled for a nice glowing green tank that you could put people in should you wish to.
I put some more time into the cutscenes last night, though the beginning has a number of them. I really like the new cutscene controls, and noticed the other day that some more animation events are available through scripting. I really like these patches and can't wait for the Hordes of the Underdark one. I hear rumors that a SetAppearance will sneak in.
I'm still working on all those fun .2da and hak pack issues to upgrade Dreamcatcher for SoU. I found out a major issue yesterday, but it was pretty easy to clean up. All my custom visual effects were off by one, so the splash animation showed a swinging blade. Sigh.
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I worked on all sorts of little details yesterday
July 04, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I worked on all sorts of little details yesterday. I got the armsman scripted reasonably well. He'll spar with you, or you can train with him should you run across an unknown beast. The armsman can show you certain techniques that will make the creatures easier to fight, hopefully tipping the balance in your favor.
I also got the Sprit Gem working in the game, allowing you to use it and move into and out of your keep. That makes it much easier for me to test out certain functions. I managed to put a little more work into the Garden area, creating some planters to decorate the place.
This morning I started in on the intro cutscenes. There's very little "game" in the module at the moment - mostly a collection of technical demos. It'll be nice to have even a little bit playable.
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In what little time I have these days, I work...
July 03, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 In what little time I have these days, I worked on the altar a bit. It's one of the rooms you can add to your keep and allows you to perform a number of different functions. One of these is to give offerings to your deity and praying for a boon. I've got to tweak the scripts a bit, but so far it works out fairly nicely. You can get rid of unwanted junk and have a nice little bonus before the next battle.
I've also been working on cleaning up things for my hak packs. Part of this is for SoU, but there's also some new versions of things I want to include. I cleaned up with walkmeshes for a couple of the castle walls. I also put in a newer version of Luna_C's driders with a much improved load time. I'm hoping to get CODI's illithid in there as well, though I'm not sure when they'll be releasing it.
Oh, I finally posted Zenogais' interview of me. He's from the RPG Classics group that puts out a newsletter.
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Still no cool pictures
July 02, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
Still no cool pictures. I spent much of yesterday working on .2da issues with the Dreamcatcher series. For those of you who tried to reach this web server a few minutes ago - I learned out the hard way that it's bad to import grenade-type weapons into the Dreamcatcher game. Crashes hard. I still have some work to do before I can get the Dreamcatcher modules ready for the expansion. The new spells aren't coming in correctly yet. Hopefully soon.
I also got Demon all ready for future Bioware expansions, padding my .2da lines up into the thousands in some cases. Lots of work, but fortunately I haven't put many things in the game yet.
I did some more work on henchman AI. You can now request that your henchman go stealthy and they will. Works quite nicely. I also worked more on dialog, making sure it's a mix of statements and quoted text. So far, I like the effect, though it is a bit more work.
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No fancy pictures today
July 01, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
No fancy pictures today. I was really sick last night, but managed to get myself to work through the divine might of painkillers and too much coffee.
I got the librarian in the game, one of your many servants of your keep. It has some fun dialog and can identify your items for you. I'm using a new dialog style, mixing descriptive text and quoted speach. I think I'm growing quite fond of it, as it allows for a more immersive, literary experience. I also like how the librarian makes comments about the things he identifies, checking out the properties and noting that something that does extra damage in combat will come in handy in a fight.
I'm researching feats and spells, trying to get some new ones in the game. Should be fun.
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Links
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Why We Fight
About Me
I've won multiple awards for my Neverwinter Nights modules, which I've been working on since the year 2000.
In the real world, I'm a web developer for a healthcare organization. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
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